Sometimes a company is looking for someone to lead a team that is still taking shape or does not yet exist. The challenge is not simply to find an experienced leader. It is to understand what they will need to build and how much authority they will have to do it.
The 2026 context makes this question more pressing. Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends reports that seven in ten business leaders see agility and the ability to respond to changing business needs as priorities for the next three years. Harvard Business Impact’s 2026 study found that 80% of senior leaders consider the ability to lead through constant change essential.
Before searching, define the ground
The organisation does not need a final organisation chart, but it should be clear about a few fundamentals:
- What should the team deliver in its first 12 months?
- Which capabilities already exist, and which will need to be added?
- What decisions can the new leader make about structure, people and priorities?
- What resources and support will be available to get the work started?
Without those answers, autonomy can easily become a lack of direction, or the leader can be held accountable for results without being given the means to achieve them.
Interview for building, not just managing
A candidate’s track record matters, but it is also useful to explore how they have acted when the context was still evolving: how they set priorities, which roles they hired first, what they changed as they learned more, and how they aligned others around a direction that was still taking shape.
It also helps to describe the role realistically. If building a team is part of the brief, say so clearly, including the uncertainties and constraints. The right person does not have to accept every challenge; they should be able to assess the real one.
At AMKALIS, drawing on our executive search experience since 2009, we believe appointing a leader for an emerging structure starts with defining the mandate before assessing talent. The aim is to hire someone who can turn a business direction into a team able to move it forward.
Visit the AMKALIS website to read more articles: https://www.amkalis.com/es/
Sources
- AMKALIS, executive search experience since 2009: https://www.amkalis.com/es/
- Deloitte, 2026 Global Human Capital Trends: https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/insights/topics/talent/human-capital-trends.html
- Harvard Business Impact, 2026 Global Leadership Study: Research Findings: https://www.harvardbusiness.org/insight/2026-global-leadership-study-research-findings/
